*CAHPS
Paul Cleary, Alan Zaslavsky
The Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) project was funded by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) to (1) develop and test questionnaires to evaluate health plan services from the point of view of consumers choosing health plans; (2) produce easily understandable reports for communicating survey information to consumers; and (3) evaluate the usefulness of these reports for consumers in selecting health care plans and services. The underlying premise of this effort is that consumer assessments are an important component of plan quality evaluations that can be used to support informed choice by consumers and purchasers, as well as for quality improvement efforts by plans.
The CAHPS Adult Survey includes a set of core items that apply to all health plans, measuring a number of topic areas about consumer experiences with medical care and health plan services. The Harvard CAHPS team has also participated in the development and implementation of subsequent additional modules, which are used with specific groups of health plan members or those with specific health conditions, such as Medicaid enrollees, Medicare enrollees, individuals with chronic conditions, children, children with special health care needs, and persons receiving behavioral health services.
For more information on this project please visit: http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/cahpsix.htm
*PHYSICIAN GROUP CAHPS SURVEY
Loel Solomon, Paul Cleary
A Sloan-sponsored doctoral student, Loel Solomon, is a member of the CAHPS consortium and is directing the development of a CAHPS survey for physician groups. The physician group survey asks consumers about their satisfaction with health care and the aspects of care that are under the control of physician groups. The distinction between physician groups and the managed care organizations that they typically contract with is important as groups often contract with several different managed care organizations and establish their own policies and procedures which may or may not reflect those of their contracted health plans.